Monday, February 24, 2014

{GETAWAY GIRL} ROAD TRIP TO STRATTON, VERMONT...

{ Can you tell it was about 4 degrees out? }

From where most people sit, it must sound like New Yorkers just cannot shut up about the weather this winter. We can seem to talk of nothing except how cold it is, how much it is snowing and how this season we just can't catch a break. True, I've been amongst this chorus of complainers, but at some point you have to turn to that old adage, "If you can't beat 'em, join 'em!"

On that note, over President's Day Weekend ten or so of us decided to embrace winter for all it's worth—and spend a weekend in the pretty, plentiful snow and frigid temperatures of Stratton, Vermont.

Thanks to General Motors' Drive The District project, I was able to safely (and rather fabulously) transport half of our group up to Stratton in a Cadillac SRX. Click through below to see some highlights from our little getaway.

At the top of the ski mountain, the temperatures were far more biting than any in Manhattan, and the wind whips rather mercilessly. The trees created what we called a "ghost forest." Every inch of each tree was covered with ice and snow. The effect was something like a creepy, beautiful candyland.

I don't advocate skiing and drinking, but after a full day on the slopes, there's nothing that satisfies quite like a cold beer at the bottom of the mountain.

With a full house of ten, we were able to make a spacious, ski-in-ski-out condo affordable for the holiday weekend, and spent all three nights cozied up together around the fireplace and the television, drinking red wine, eating home-cooked meals and watching the Olympics. What more could you ask for?

{ Fueling up somewhere in southern Vermont }

As it was meant to do, our Cadillac SRX really got put through it's pace on our trip. From navigating us from Manhattan to Stratton with GPS to handling snow and ice-covered roads along the way, I couldn't have been happier with how this fancy little SUV performed. After spending most of my life driving a 1997 Ford Explorer, it was quite a sensation to spend a weekend driving a car that is started with a push of a button, rather than the turn of a key.

Was that your first time ever in Vermont? Regardless, judging by the contents of the coffee table surface it looks like you all had plenty of good recreational activities to keep you both warm and busy. Only thing that might have made it more perfect would have been a fireplace, gah!